Two men charged in connection with killing of retired Sussex County corrections officer

View full sizeSussex County JailClark Fredericks, left, 47, of Fredon and Robert Reynolds, 47, of Hackettstown have been charged in connection with the killing.

STILLWATER TWP. — Authorities were releasing few new details today about the killing of a retired Sussex County corrections officer who was found stabbed to death in his home in rural Stillwater Township.

Dennis Pegg, 68, was stabbed more than 20 times Tuesday in his Millbrook Road home and his body was found the next day. Clark Fredericks, 47, of Fredon and Robert Reynolds, 47, of Hackettstown have been charged in connection with the killing.

“We are still interviewing people, people who have known the victim or the suspects,” said Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller.

While authorities are stilling investigating the motive for the killing and how Pegg and the suspects knew each other, Mueller said robbery has been ruled out.

“While it doesn’t appear the defendants were invited guests, it doesn’t appear they broke down the door,” said Mueller. “Robbery does not appear to be the motive.”

According to Mueller, Fredericks’ mother reported to State Police that her son may have killed Pegg after Fredericks’ returned to the home he shares with his parents covered in blood.

Pegg’s body was found by troopers in his home at about noon Wednesday and arrested Fredericks, said Mueller. Reynolds was subsequently arrested at his Hackettstown home, where troopers allegedly found the two knives used in the killing and bloody clothing in Fredericks' garage.

Fredericks and Reynolds, who were longtime friends, were charged Thursday with first-degree murder and are being held in the county jail on $350,000 bail each with no 10 percent option.

Pegg, a 26-year corrections officer at the county jail, retired in 1996, according to public records.

“We will find out what led to this. I expect the suspects’ motive will be a large part of the trial,” said Mueller.